Going from latent to active labour

[Emfrancesca]

I'm 41 weeks today and I have been in latent labour for 4 days now. My contractions are powerful and extremely painful but they are still not close together enough to get me into active labour. Some are 4 mins apart, some are 6 mins and some are 10 mins. Sometimes I won't have one for a while and then they will start up again. I have been examined 4 times and yesterday I got told I'm 3cm, cervix is soft and pretty much fully effaced and she could feel my waters bulging.

At this point I'm finding it difficult to imagine my body moving into active labour, the thought of contractions being consistently 3 mins apart seems like a dream and impossible for my body to do on its own. I've had baths, been non strop bouncing on my birthing ball, been for walks etc. The midwife told me last night that I'm really close and I will have this baby before Wednesday, but I just don't believe her. I know she wouldn't say that if she really didn't believe it but this has been going on for so long now and I'm just so mentally, physically and emotionally exhausted.

Anyone who has experienced latent labour like this, how did you get into active labour? Did your body just spontaneously start contracting every 3 mins? Or did you end up in hospital with help? Please share your experiences with me.

I very frustrating latent labour with ds3. From week 40 on, every time I sat down to rest or relax, my body decided to have irregular contractions. Exhausting.

Then, at midnight exactly of week 41 exactly, boom! Without any warning the random contractions of random intensity switched to strong, consistent contractions 5 minutes apart. Ds was born 2h13m later.

🤞 for you.

I was the same with dc4 in slow labour for a week it's so hard. I would stop bouncing and rest and eat. My midwife suggested I go home have a glass of wine relax and have sex.
I didn't but just all of a sudden they became regular nothing I did it just happened.
Good luck and everything crossed it happens soon for you 🤞

Have you tried the mile's circuit?

Or just walking with one foot on the curb and one foot on the road, back and forth - I know that sounds mad.

Try some funny films or anything that always makes you laugh. Get that oxytocin going!

Have sex (provided waters are still intact).

Oxytocin from sex & cuddles and the prostaglandins in semen will really help you.

I had this, started Tuesday evening, by Thursday evening I was in the situation where i wouldn't be able to sleep at all but I wasn't getting contractions any closer together, similar to how yours are.

Eventually I decided to head to hospital to be checked late Thursday night. While on the way there it started to become more painful. When the midwife checked, I was 10cm dilated! My waters hadn't broken so that's why it wasn't going any further, so they broke my waters manually and then I had the baby in 40 mins...!

Wasn't as long as yours but definintely felt like forever, mucus plug started going + irregular contractions on Tuesday morning. Waters went on Thursday afternoon whilst taking a nap but contractions didn't get regular until midnight when I just felt something snap inside of me and then about 4/6 hours later she was out. I know it probably sounds daft and that you're really uncomfortable now but just relax, maybe watch a movie (it will probably be the last you watch for a while) and the little one will come out when they're ready.

I was in latent labour for a whole week before giving birth so feel your pain! The contractions would come every evening and ease back down by morning. I went to the hospital 3 times before the contractions started getting more intense and my waters started leaking. Despite the pain I was still only 2cm dilated and it would take 24 hours of contractions every 5 minutes to get me to 5cm 😬 Aftrr all that I still needed oxytocin. So mine was a very gradual ramping up of pain but I hope yours is much quicker!!

I had this in both my labours. It was really awful and actually ended up really traumatised after my first labour. In my first labour my waters broke (after a lot of pain - sorry) and then they ‘let me’ have some gas and air. My contractions slowed down again so I had an epidural and the drip to get them going. I think I would have got to 10cm with them still telling me I wasn’t in active labour.

With my second I insisted on having some codeine and that helped me to get some sleep. Because I’d found my first labour so difficult and was so completely exhausted by the time baby arrived, they had agreed to break my waters after 24 hours of latent phase second time around. This wasn’t quite that quick, I think it was probably more like 36-40 hours later but they did break my waters. I did have an epidural, didn’t need drip that time.

Sorry this is probably not that helpful. Except to say that if you are in pain and unable to sleep, please please insist on them giving you something to help. When I had my first, I hadn’t slept for almost 3 nights, I’m not sure I would have been able to tell you my name. I was utterly utterly knackered and then it was “hey, here’s a baby for you to look after by yourself on a ward of crying babies and mothers”.

After 4 days in latent labour I reached breaking point and was given pethedine so I could sleep. I ended up having an emergency c section as I never progressed beyond 5cm.

Oh how frustrating, you must be exhausted!

I think my advice would be do whatever you can to sleep for a few hours - paracetamol, TENS, hot water bottle whatever.

Then when you wake up, try to use every contraction by doing squats, being upright, swaying etc. Basically trying to open up your pelvis and hoping that the contraction will exert some pressure on the cervix from the baby's head.

If no luck maybe go to hospital and beg for induction??? At 41+ weeks, surely they ought to be happy to induce just for dates if nothing else. If they will not induce (or, before they induce) another thing you can ask for is a pethidine rest. That's where they give you an injection of pethidine which will make you sleepy and relaxed about the pain so you can sleep for a few hours. Often when you wake up, your labour is more advanced (or they may do some induction magic thing) and you have more energy to carry on.

As others have said, it just wrecks you doing labour on no sleep, both DS1 and DS3 I had a whole normal day followed by a sleepless contracting night, then frustrating latent labour all day and all night and then they were born the following morning. So by the time each was born I had been awake for 48 straight hours (nothing compared to 4 days) and I could barely hold the baby up because I had no strength left.

I also second what others have said regarding pain relief to get some rest - I couldn’t sit or lie down as the contractions were too strong for 48 hours before giving birth, so was actually hallucinating when I finally met my baby and then fainted in the corridor from exhaustion when I finally got onto the ward!

My partner went out and got a TENS machine earlier today and it has really helped me with managing the pain. They are still painful, but a lot more manageable with the TENS.
My hospital and midwives have been really good with me during this, they did give me codeine at 2 visits but the second time they didn't touch the sides. They told me on my 3rd visit to triage that I could be admitted but it would be on the antenatal ward and my partner wouldn't be able to stay with me and I know that would stress me out even more, so that's why I'm waiting for active labour so we can both get onto the delivery suite and he can be with me.
At my 40 week appointment my midwife booked me an appointment that included a sweep (if I wanted it) for tomorrow and then induction on Friday. The midwives I've seen so far don't seem to think I'll need to be induced but at this rate I'm thinking I'm going to need hormones to speed things along a bit.

By the way, what often happens in these cases is apparently that the progression simply isn't linear - so you might find that your active labour is much shorter than it feels like it "should" be. But it's ALL progress and things ARE happening - I know it feels like nothing is happening but something somewhere is making progress.

I also tend to have really erratic opening of my cervix, so I get told I'm only at some really low number for ages and I start to go a bit crazy (and UK hospitals are obsessed with the "magic 4cm", which doesn't help) but then I have been known to dilate 1-6cm in an hour (DS2) or get "stuck" at 4-6cm for hours and hours and then have it all happen (DS3) and I'm pretty sure I must have done incredibly slow then rapid dilation with DS1 as well but I just didn't have checks at times that would have made this pattern clear.

If you have the brain space to listen to a podcast I found this immensely reassuring: https://themidwivescauldron.buzzsprout.com/1178486/11700048-an-interview-with-dr-clare-davison-on-all-things-assessing-labour-progress

There's another one with them about cervixes which helped me too - basically if you tend to get an urge to push before being fully dilated (which I do, usually around 8-9cm but with DS2 and 3 it was starting around 6/7cm) you will often be told this is terribly dangerous and you must stop and it can all be very fear mongering. Also nobody told me how to stop for ages - you can do a kind of "brrrr" sound with your lips (like a horse) if you're trying to not-push when you have an urge. And I did get this advice (eventually!) in all the births and I used it, but for DC3 I also had this memory of that podcast where they said it's probably not really dangerous to push if you're having an urge, so don't panic about it, and so I did a combination of stopping myself pushing and not worrying if I was pushing, and it was much calmer and less scary (and nothing bad happened).

If you do go to labour ward, maybe see if someone can have a feel and try and work out what position baby is in - if they are back to back then it might be that their head isn't pushing on the cervix and that's why nothing seems to be happening. If that's the case you could try these positions - I watched a lot of her videos in early labour with DS3, they just made me feel like I was doing something productive. E

Youtube link again as it messed up

e

I was like this with DD2. Went on and off for days and days and I tried everything under the sun to get her on the move. At 41+1 late afternoon I had my induction booked for 41+5 and I just relaxed and resigned myself to an induction in a few days time. 41+2 I went into labour at 7am and she was born at 9.30 nearly in the car park! I would just do what you can to relax now and get as much rest as you can. Have lots of cuddles with DH, sex if you feel like it but other than that just chill and that might tip your body over the edge into labour. If you're 3cm then you are likely to be heading that way anyway.

Really hope it happens for you soon, this latent bit is brutal x

I think I've relaxed into the fact she will come when she comes now and I'm just doing all of the things I enjoy at home. Eating chocolate, watching telly, playing video games with my other half. The TENS machine has made life more bearable since using it today and I should hopefully be able to get at least a little bit of rest tonight, even if it is only for 10-15 mins at a time.
My midwife called me earlier to check how I was, I asked her what happens if I don't progress past 3cm and she said nothing, my body has gone into labour and she's sure I will reach 4cm.
Who knew a tiny centimetre would mean so much!

Have you tried hand expressing colostrum? It consistently triggered cramps once I was at full term and then contractions for me, and very quickly progressed my latent labour into active when I tried it as a way of speeding things up (and the midwives confirmed this was a trick they often recommended).

I have been collecting colostrum since I was 38 weeks but have only done it once since being in latent labour. I might pick back up on that again and see if it helps!